History of Israel: The Northern Campaign

After defeating the kings of southern Canaan, Israel has to meet a new threat in the north. The largest army ever gathered in that region is prepared to fight against the Israelites...but they strike first. The resulting battle brings us to the end of Joshua as the nation then settles in the land. 

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Transcript

The waters at Merom shimmered nearby. All around you could hear the talking of men...the jingle of armor...a stone sharpening a sword. And horses. Thousands of them. Neighing...pawing the ground. It felt like the largest army the world had ever seen. Well...at least the largest army that had fought in this part of the world.

Jabin, king of the city of Hazor, looked over the mass of people and horses. He had pulled them together. Instead of warring with each other, the kings of the cities in Canaan understood the new reality. They had to join forces to destroy this new threat...the nation of Israel. When it all started with Jericho, the kings thought they could just wait it out in their cities. Most were well fortified and had water available. But then the stories reached them about the walls of Jericho collapsing. After a short set back, Ai was then destroyed. Then the Gibeonites joined forces with Israel and things started falling apart after that. Now the southern part of Canaan was in the hands of Israel and these men knew who was next.

Jabin went into the command tent to meet with the other kings. “Brothers! We stand on the edge of victory! The army of Israel is no matched against our combined strength. We will sweep them from the field!”

Most of the kings cheered in agreement; some looked less sure. They had all heard the stories. Not just the recent events, but about the plagues in Egypt and the crossing of the sea on dry land many years before. Israel had access to some deep and troubling magic. Jabin was not concerned though. They believed that gods stayed close to their regions. The further away the Israelites got from their base, the weaker they would become. Plus, there was opportunity here. Although he called them “brothers” most of these kings were rivals. If some of them happened to fall in battle against Israel, what would prevent him from taking their lands? Jabin was sure some were thinking the same about his city.

After some discussion of attacks and strategy, the kings each went to their tents. Jabin did the same, took off his armor, and lay down to sleep.

He was jolted awake by the sounds of battle. An experienced campaigner, as soon as he woke up he knew it was early dawn. He grabbed his sword and stepped out of this tent. What he saw made his heart drop into his stomach.

The army of Israel had started a surprise attack.

And it wasn’t just any attack. It was a slaughter. Their army looked like a wave crashing into the shore and sweeping away everything in front of them. Anytime someone tried to mount a defense, it was quickly destroyed. This certainly was not the plan and now he needed a new one.

He saw some of his brother kings start rallying their troops to counterattack, but now he had seen the Israelites up close. He knew what was going to happen and decided on a slightly different plan.

Jabin saw his army commander and grabbed him quickly. “Get our army together and retreat back to Hazor. Immediately. We’re not going to win this battle here on the plain. We need fortifications. Go! Now!” The commander hesitated; his instinct was to fight. But he had been given an order and started to get what was left of his king’s army together for a retreat back to their city.

Jabin took one last look over the battlefield. How did this happen? How did it all fall apart so quickly? With that last question ringing through his mind, he mounted his chariot and turned toward home.

Hello again everyone and welcome to this episode of Bible Backdrop. As we continue in our history of Israel series, we’re going to start wrapping up the book of Joshua with the northern campaign for the Promised Land. In the previous episodes, we looked at the battles of Jericho and Ai, then we did a deeper dive on the southern campaign. Now with Canaan split into two and Israel commanding the southern half, it’s time to look north.

In this case, it didn’t seem to take long for events to pull together. Well...events such as a large army. As was described in the story, the king of the city of Hazor, Jabin, saw the threat and knew he had to do something. The kings of the city-states of Canaan probably fought among themselves more often than against outside forces. Seeing the Israelites roll through the entire southern part of the country was a warning that that course of action wasn’t going to work. They needed to band together to fight Israel.

Why is this person and city given prominence in the story? Why would it be Jabin of Hazor that pulled together this confederation? The name Jabin is actually a title meaning “discerner” or “wise.” So it is not truly a proper name. It may have been a title for this particular king or that may have been the name given to the line of kings...similar to Pharaoh in Egypt. 

As to the city of Hazor, it is prominent because it is the largest city in Canaan. If you remember, Jericho was very small...only 6 acres. Hazor, on the other hand, was much larger. Similar to Jericho it was built in two sections. The upper section, an acropolis that contained the kings residence, nobles and their temple, was 25 acres large. Below that on the lower level was 175 acres and it contained the rest of the city. This is probably where the majority of people lived. 

Hazor was located about 10 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. This was an extremely strategic position and explains the city’s size and strength. It stood on the principal trade route into Canaan from the nations to the north and east. If you wanted to trade in the area, you had to come through Hazor. This likely led to a bustling trade in the city itself leading to great tax revenue for the king. It was a wealthy, strong and prominent city in the land. And the king wanted to keep it that way.

Being the largest and most prominent city, it would be natural for Jabin to pull together this confederation. This almost certainly would have taken some time and word would have gotten back to the Israelites. The army is estimated to be about 60,000 men and they have the technological advantage of using chariots. They gathered at the waters of Merom which is about 75 miles from the Israelite camp at Gilgal. This is a good location since there is water for the men and horses. Plus it should be far enough away from the Israelites so they can gather their full force and make a crushing blow.

Again...it SHOULD be.

Joshua hears about this army and knows he needs to do something. He gathers the entire army together and makes his way toward Merom. If you think about it, this is a very bold strategy. The smart thing to do here would be to consolidate, fortify and let the confederation army break itself attacking. Joshua, though, has attacked every time and, except for the one incident at Ai, has been successful. Similar to the southern confederation, this is an opportunity. Instead of attacking them piecemeal, the warriors of all the city-states are out in the open. The numbers, though, must have been so large as to give Joshua second thoughts. God intervenes and reminds him to be courageous and by the next day, the confederation would be broken, the chariots burned with fire and horses would be hamstrung. And that’s exactly what happens.

The Bible says that Joshua came against them suddenly at Merom. This would appear to be another surprise attack and it works well as the confederation is not ready. Since this is a staging ground and they believe Israel to still be in Gilgal, fortifications are likely at a minimum. How Joshua was able to move 30,000 men without word getting back to Jabin is a miracle. When the Israelites attack, it’s a slaughter and they win the battle overwhelmingly. Unlike with the southern campaign, there are no outward miracles here. No giant hailstones and the sun is up for it’s standard day. The Israelites win in a more conventional manner. This doesn’t mean that God is with them any less; just that the manner of victory is more in their hands. 

After the battle, the Israelites go on campaign against the city-states in the north. Hazor is singled out since they were complicit in pulling together the army. Like Jericho and Ai, Hazor is burned to the ground. This is similar to the southern campaign in that Israel defeats the army and the cities have nobody left to protect them, so they’re ripe to be attacked. The people are driven out and now Israel has conquered the main pieces of Canaan.

After the northern campaign is done, there is now another piece of business to attend to. Remember those giants that the spies saw that stopped them from claiming the land over 40 years prior? It was time for them to go. The army attacks the Anakim, the giants who occupied the mountains in the center of the country. The war is so complete, that the Anakim that survived make their way to the cities of the Philistines. It is the descendants of these giants that David will face hundreds of years later.

So now what? It seems like the conquest should be done, but that’s not quite the case. The Bible says that Joshua warred with the remaining kings for many years. Commentaries believe that the wars lasted for another 5-7 years before Israel officially took possession of the land. And, even then, the whole land was not fully conquered. There were still many city-states, including the land of the Philistines, that Israel needed to fight and gain possession.

At this point, Joshua is in his 90’s and God tells him that as he is older, it is time to divide the land among the tribes. This command is given while there are still Canaanite tribes and cities that need to be driven out in order for the Israelites to take full possession. And here we already see the tribes start to waver in their belief. Joshua 17 relates a story about the tribes of Joseph, which are Manasseh and Ephraim, who feel they have been cheated by not being given enough land. Joshua tells them that, since they are a mighty people, to go up and take the land. It seems that these tribes have forgotten what the Lord has done for them and immediately go to excuses about the large cities and iron chariots. We can see the seeds of what’s about to happen in the book of Judges.

In contrast, we see another story about great faithfulness. Caleb goes to Joshua and reminds him that Moses said that he could choose his inheritance. He wished to have the city of Hebron and the surrounding hill country. There was only one problem...it was occupied by the giants of the Anakim. This didn’t matter to Caleb. He believed that God was with him and they would overcome the giants. As opposed to the sons of Joseph, Caleb relished the fight and wanted to establish his inheritance. And he was right. His kinsman followed him and he took the city of Hebron and utterly defeated the Anakim. The bold action stood in stark contrast to the other tribes who just offered excuses.

So now the tribes are settled and the Bible says “the land had rest from war.” This didn’t mean the conquest was totally complete; there were still tribes of Canaanites to uproot. However, the major battles were done and the Israelites could now focus on settling in the land. 

Joshua goes on to live to the age of 110 before he passes away as one of Israel’s greatest military leaders. He has established what true leadership looks like and gives the tribes a pattern to follow. As we get into the, book of Judges we’ll see that his example didn’t last very long.

On that note, I think we’ll end it here. On the next episode, we’ll start on the book of Judges, discuss why the conquest was not complete, and what the government of the tribes looked like. If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please subscribe and leave a 5 star rating and review. If you want to get in touch with the show, you can e-mail me at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Word of mouth is still the best way for this show to get around, so tell a friend and have them subscribe. You can find Bible Backdrop on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere podcasts are found. Thank you again for listening and have a great week!